Amare Stoudemire Officially Done For Season

The Suns were holding out hope that Amare Stoudemire would be back for the playoffs this year, but Amare’s doctor has ruled him out for the rest of the season.

Via ESPN…

That hope was dashed Thursday, when the doctor who performed Stoudemire’s surgery ruled out any return at all this season — playoffs included.

“It’s very difficult to explain to anyone how serious this is,” Dr. Pravin Dugel said, according to the Arizona Republic. “It’s more serious than any knee or ankle surgery. The healing is excruciatingly slow and delicate.”

The Suns have a significant uphill battle to make the playoffs from this point to the end of the season. It seems that the team that they are going to have to battle for the final spot in the playoffs is the Mavs. But even then: what’s the point? A 4-1 series loss to the Lakers looks like the likeliest result for whichever team lands in the eighth slot out West, so I don’t think that this race for the West’s eighth spot is that big of a deal.